How do I read a federal docket number?

A number like 1:26-cv-24243 has three parts: the district or division prefix, the filing year, and a case-type tag — cv for a civil case, bk for bankruptcy, cr for criminal — followed by a sequence number assigned when the case was opened.

The same sequence number can exist in different districts, so the prefix matters. Searching our records by a bare number can therefore match more than one court.

Our case pages print the docket number exactly as the public record carries it, because that is the string you would use to look the case up yourself.